Van downtime costs fleets £1,100 a day, meanwhile operators invest in uptime technology

May 28, 2026

UK businesses are losing more than £1,170 for every day a van is off the road, according to new research from Mercedes-Benz Vans, highlighting the growing operational and financial pressure surrounding vehicle downtime.

The study found fleets experienced an average of six-and-a-half days of disruption over the past year, with businesses also reporting workflow disruption, longer staff hours and customer complaints linked to unavailable vehicles.

The findings reflect why more fleets are now investing heavily in predictive maintenance, live vehicle monitoring and proactive downtime management systems.

Ogilvie Fleet recently reported vehicle uptime levels of 99.43% across its maintained fleet of more than 18,000 vehicles after introducing new proactive downtime management processes and live vehicle-off-road tracking through its MiFleet platform.

The company says average days off-road have already fallen by 17%, despite wider industry pressures including parts shortages and extended workshop wait times.

Mercedes-Benz Vans is also pushing predictive maintenance technology through its Van Uptime Monitor system, which continuously checks vehicle health and flags potential faults before breakdowns occur.

For fleets, the wider trend is increasingly clear: downtime management is shifting from reactive repairs towards connected vehicle data, live diagnostics and earlier intervention.

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